Bus companies are not required by law to force parents with buggies to make way for wheelchair users

[DuelingFanjo]

story

First Bus wins wheelchair court judgement - Bus companies are not required by law to force parents with buggies to make way for wheelchair users in designated bays on vehicles, senior judges ruled.

Might be a controversial opinion but I am glad.

How sad.
Wheelchair users should not be prejudiced against by selfish buggy pushers.

This appeal was on a point of law, however bus companies are free to make their own rules as long as they do not break the law. Therefore it would be possible for a bus company to clearly state that wheelchair spaces must always be vacated by buggies if they are required for the purpose for which they were provided! In the same way that my local buses state no drinks in cups etc. anyone refusing to fold would be in breach of those conditions and could be compelled to leave the bus, by the police if necessary.

"FFS this really pisses me off. Wheelchair users chained themselves to buses for the right to have a space on buses and now the people who refuse to move for wheelchair users are going to feel ever more legitimate in being cunts. "

Oddfodd has it in a nutshell.

Chaz you were struggling, you were affected, but you had a choice. The disabled person doesn't have a choice. I couldn't walk 12 days post birth due to my pelvis, I still can't 18 years post birth. I didn't choose that. I don't use the bus because I can not be doing with people always having a reason why they have to inconvenice the very people who the space was provided for!

TheFairy
I had the choice to stay at home for another month or two as I could only walk short distances so couldn't get to the shops without getting on the bus and couldn't have the physio I needed until I had healed from the CS.

That doesn't mean in the overall scheme of things the problems I faced are as serious as the problems you faced and still face.

But by occupying the wheelchair space and not moving you are denying the wheelcahir user their physiotherapy, their shopping trip, their hospital appointment, or getting to their job. Or, you could be stopping them getting to their appointment with the job centre, so their benefits end up being stopped, they have no money for food and heating.

And at the end of the day, when it is all said and done, it is a wheelchair space!

'If someone has no means to buy their own buggy and is gifted one, and has no car, should they not take the bus because they can't fold it?'

A pretty specific hypothetical question but it is absolutely so. The have not got the right equipment to do their job basically and it is sad but they will have to simply be creative about how they resolve it. Unlike disability. Which is unresolvable.

Hmmm give buses that are equipped for a few wheelchairs and several pushchairs the legal right to use red diesel. That might affect a change.

Betting the number of women post c-section or non-wheelchair disabled though are actually fairly small.

Far outweighed by people that cannot be arsed to collapse their buggy. The original case was brought because a woman wouldn't collapse the pram because the baby was sleeping.

Really, that's indefensible as an excuse when you're arguing with a person in a wheelchair surely?

Instead of arguing and fighting over the space, why not join forces and petition bus companies to make buses accessible to all users? That way no one would need to be turfed off in preference to someone else.

How do you know you are not denying the woman with the pushchair exactly the same things fairy?

She could be on her way to work via the childminders/nursery.

Not all women with prams are out shopping for the day. They also have doctors appointments etc.

WuME because the woman with the pram could get a foldable buggy

Oddfodd's point proved nicely. Even on this thread people are using the ruling to defend being really entitled.

Tinsel good point.

I think that anyone who can fold their buggy should. What concerns me are the assumptions that anyone who doesn't is automatically selfish. Similarly, a blanket requirement that all buggies should be folded probably unreasonable.

'There is nowhere to put a folded pram anymore'

Nonsense. Just today I sat with a folded buggy in between my legs. If I stood I could tuck it in somewhere the sane way I'd tuck one of the kids scooters, bag or trolley.

fairy - If someone else in a wheelchair, in a worse condition than you, needed the wheelchair space, would you get off the bus?

I'd be chucked off the bus for tucking a buggy between my legs.

Lucky you for having such a lax bus service

Well done Fango for proving my point that some people are not reading the thread.

Read the part about there being no where to put a folded buggy on many buses (esp in London)

I didn't leave the house actually when I couldn't walk post c-section. I ordered stuff online. But bringing individual examples of specific situations is really unhelpful.

Some buggy users are incapacitated to the extent that they would find it hard to fold their buggies. All wheelchair users are incapacitated to the extent that they can't walk when going to the shops. What should they do Chaz? What's your solution for them?

I'm not reading the whole thread as I am tired and I can tell it's full of the usual predictable pish but probably worse as people will now think they have the law behind them when being selfish.

the buses are really badly designed, i've been in a situation where there is already a wheelchair in the place and the other wheelchair user has to wait for the next bus. the companies could design more accessible buses for both

When I folded my buggy for a wheelchair user recently THEY held the sleeping toddler.

Odd
The only point I am making is that not everyone who doesn't fold their buggy is driven by a sense of entitlement. As with too many other situations vulnerable people are left competing over inadequate service provision.

It is definitely possible to fold on our buses, I have folded for people and have helped others to fold. People are usually happy to help if you ask. On one of the local bus companies there is a place to put folded buggies and luggage, and last week a woman folded and laid the buggy on the floor alongside ds's buggy.

WUME read my point where I said I don't use buses anymore because I can not be doing with self entitled people, who always have an excuse as to why they can not fold up their pushchair, taking up the wheelchair space!

Nobody in London gets chucked off buses for sticking a folded buggy between their legs, or along the floor under their legs, or just holding it upright next to them. Buses are so busy no-one would even notice it.

In fact I can't think of a single bus service in London (and I bet I've used them all with buggies including doubles as I travel loads and have lived all over and don't drive) where you can't find somewhere to tuck the buggies when folded.